Jordan Willetts, from Newport, has avoided prison after pleading guilty to dangerous driving, driving without a license, and failing to stop at the scene of a collision in November. Willetts handed himself into police two days after the incident, during which he was riding his electric motorbike the wrong way down a one-way street.
The victim, Sam Bevan, 33, told BBC Wales he had no memory of the crash and only became aware of its severity after a neighbor showed him CCTV footage. Bevan was crossing Fairoak Avenue when he was struck, rendering him unconscious for approximately five minutes. Neighbors found him lying face down in the road, suffering from severe concussion and facial cuts.
Bevan expressed his distress at being the victim of a hit-and-run, stating, "That's what's annoyed me, the disrespect and not being humane and checking up on someone." He is currently unable to drive as a result of the incident.
At Newport Magistrates Court, Willetts was given a 12-month suspended sentence. Prosecutors informed the court that Willetts eventually surrendered to the authorities. When questioned by the BBC after his plea, Willetts stated, "Of course I'm sorry, why would I have handed myself in if I wasn't sorry?" His father had previously described his son's actions as a "mistake."
Investigators later discovered that the electric motorbike Willetts was riding had been modified from a push bike. Willetts was also disqualified from driving.